To begin our final improvisation class we began with a simple exercise in partners that consisted of spirals. In partners, a spiral was always in motion with different parts of the body. When I carried out this task I found that the tone of my contact improvisation had dramatically increased, when spiralling my movement became more dynamic and the speed became vaster. This was an interesting outcome for me, as before my contact improvisation was relatively calm and sustained where as the spiralling influenced me to move in a different way. I will use this skill during contact performances to alter the dynamic of my movement and to create a different atmosphere.

The majority of the lesson focused on our group scores for the open studios. The set rules that influence my group’s score are as follows:

• A minimum of 2 dancers out of the space
• When a solo is occurring another dance must interact to form a duet
• When in a duet the aim is to travel to the opposite side of the space
• A third dancer can join a duet to form a trio, there aim is to change the direction and level
• Each dancer has their own goal in mind e.g. I will be the under-dancer. This will change each time they entre the space.

After we performed our score the feedback that we received was quite positive, from an audiences perspective our score was visually interesting and engaging to watch. However there were areas that could be improved:

1. Firstly the space could be better utilized. As a group the movement tended to happen upstage leaving vast empty space downstage. When all the movement occurred in one area it looked relatively cluttered and cramped. To improve on this, a better awareness of the space is needed. For example if there is a lot of action happening in one area then it can be your job to alter and direct the movement into the empty spaces that are available.
2. Secondly it was pointed out that we should allow for more time to watch individual solos, trios and duets. Meaning that often when an interesting duet/ solo/trio was taking place another dancer/ dancers joined the space taking the emphasis away from what is already happening. For an audience it can be difficult to stay engaged when there is a lot of movement happening, therefore it is beneficial to allow for time for dances to happen.
3. A final area of weakness that was discussed was the movement occurring in a trio. Often when a trio was formed one person became the under dancer taking the weight from the other two dancers. Although this can still be effective, it is important to consider your role in a trio. When joining a duet to form a trio you do not necessarily have to be in close proxemics, the third person can simply assist the duet offering more surfaces and structures to sustain the dance.

After this feedback we evaluated our score as a group and altered and added some new rules.

• Instead of a minimum of 2 dancers out of the space we increased this to 4. By having at least 4 dancers out of the space allows for more time to occur for trios/duets/ solos. What is more the space will be less cramped.
• To finish our score we decided that slowly we would fade out of contact improvisation coming to stillness on the floor. We have not set who fades out first or an order to this, simply just when you feel ready to stop dancing. Additionally, everyone will not stop moving at the same time, it will be a slow process of one by one.

I look forward to performing the score at the open studios this week. I will utilise all of the skills that I have learnt throughout this module to create an interesting and stimulating contact improvisation dance.

 Works Cited

Caught Falling, The Confluence of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and Other Moving Ideas page 90 onwards.

dancetechtv (2013) An Emergent Underscore: a conversation with Nancy Stark Smith, London. [online] Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzG609NWp1Y [Accessed 1 December 2014].